The present invention relates generally to restraint systems for cargo on trucks and similar cargo transporting vehicles having designated cargo carrying space and more particularly to a system for restraining cargo in the bed of a truck such as a pick-up truck or the like or the interior load carrying portion of a van or station wagon.
Truck beds are subject to substantial amounts of wear and tear due to the nature of the various types of cargo carried, the lack of care utilized by those placing the cargo in the bed and withdrawing it from the bed, and various environmental effects. Reconstruction of the truck bed is a substantial and costly procedure usually resulting in retirement of the entire vehicle.
Furthermore, cargo restraint systems for truck beds, vans, and station wagons generally are limited by the nature of the cargo believed to be utilized. With pick-up trucks and similar load carrying vehicles, cargo is generally variable in size and a multi-faceted, multi-purpose cargo restraint system is believed to be highly valuable. With the ever increasing use of pick-up trucks, vans, station wagons, and the like which also have other day-to-day uses, such as commuting to and from work, for which some aesthetic appeal is desirable, a means of retaining aesthetic appeal in the vehicle used is also significant.
Accordingly, in the present invention, a cargo restraint system is presented which may incorporate a liner for the bed of a truck into an improved restraint system for the cargo in the bed. Primary cargo restraining elements which are capable of clamping engagement with various cargo securing devices are implemented in the truck bed on the liner. The liner may have recesses in which the primary elements may be disposed wherein the cargo is supported on the upper surfaces of the bed liner so that the liner may bear the wear or other effects caused by movement of the cargo. The liner, of course, is wear-resistant and puncture-resistant, but is also readily replaceable without impairment of the structure of the underlying truck bed. The primary elements may also be mounted in a manner wherein the primary elements themselves have cargo supporting surfaces either in the same horizontal plane as the support surfaces of the bed liner or above the horizontal plane of the bed liner support surfaces. With any of the above alternatives, the bed liner may also utilize recesses as both drainage elements and also to lower the frictional interface between the cargo and the cargo support surfaces as the cargo is moved across the bed.
Additionally, the cargo restraint system may be mounted directly to the truck bed or mounted in the interior of a van or station wagon. If so mounted, various cargo securing or load supporting elements may be utilized with the primary elements of the cargo restraint system.
Various cargo securing elements clampingly engageable to the primary element and tailored to the loads carried in the bed are also disclosed here as part of the present invention. Particularly noteworthy cargo securing elements are illustrated here which have ease of operation yet flexibility and control in cargo securing and which are not shown by the prior art (such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,376, issued July 14, 1981) due to the multi-faceted uses of the various elements of the present system, the ease of use of the present system, and other advantages as set forth below. The present invention includes a cargo restraint system that has readily releasable components to make the system and the cargo restrained in the system easy to set up, use, adjust, modify, and/or disassemble as desired without interfering with the other functions of the load storage area of a vehicle. The components of the system themselves are also modifiable for various uses.